The original series, which aired in the late 1960s, has since spawned five successor series and thirteen movies as of July 2016[update], a plethora of merchandise, and a multibillion-dollar industry collectively known as the Star Trekfranchise. The franchise is owned by CBS Television Studios, which now owns television properties previously held by Paramount Pictures, the studio that produced Star Trek for many decades; CBS Paramount continues to hold DVD rights to the TV series, and the rights to produce feature films.

The fact is, never in the history of any entertainment medium has there ever been a story, an idea, a situation, a set of characters, or a theme that has approached the magnitude or impact of Star Trek.

Earlier British science fiction shows with marionettes[4] and soap operas[5] had interracial casting, but this was the first American live-action series to do this. At a time when there were few non-white or foreign roles in American television dramas, Roddenberry created a multi-ethnic crew for the Enterprise, including an African woman (Uhura), a Scotsman (Montgomery Scott), a Japanese American (Hikaru Sulu), and—most notably—an alien, the half-VulcanSpock. In the second season, reflecting the contemporaneous Cold War, Roddenberry added a Russian crew member, (Pavel Chekov). The original series is also credited with American television's first interracial kiss, between a white man and an African-American woman, although this had happened earlier in a British medical soap opera, Emergency – Ward 10.[6] Also, the spy show I Spy, featured a scripted, unedited interracial kiss between Robert Culp (white) and France Nuyen (Vietnamese) in the episode 'The Tiger,'; a kiss that wouldn't gain the controversy or attention as the Star Trek kiss.

Star Trek's contributions to TV history include giving women jobs of respect, mostly through the casting of Nichelle Nichols, a black actress, as Uhura, the ship's communications officer. Black actresses at that time on TV were cast as servants or secondclass citizens. In an interview, Nichelle Nichols, who played the black female communications officer, said that the day after she told Roddenberry she planned to leave the show, she was at a fund-raiser at the NAACP and was told there was a big fan who wanted to meet her. Nichols said,

I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, 'Sure.' I looked across the room, and there was Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said that Star Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [She told King about her plans to leave the series.] I never got to tell him why, because he said, 'You can't. You're part of history.'

The series gained multiple Emmy Award nominations during its run, but never won. Despite a restricted budget, the show's special effects were superior to contemporary TV shows, its stories were often written by prominent science fiction authors (though often re-written by the show's regular writers),[8] and many of its production values—such as costuming and set design—were of high caliber for such a low budget. Some of the production staff of The Outer Limits worked on Star Trek and often made creative re-use of props from the earlier series.[3]

During its network run from 1966 to 1969, TOS'ratings were mediocre. A letter-writing campaign by fans, unprecedented in size, contributed to NBC's decision to renew the series for a third season, but the network put the show in a disadvantageous timeslot, and TOS was finally canceled after its third season.

NASA also employed actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura to attempt recruiting African-Americans and women to become astronauts. Nichols considered quitting her role on Star Trek during the second season to pursue a different acting job. She was talked out of this decision by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who told her that a show that depicted a black woman working alongside white men in a position of importance helped further the goal of racial equality.

A direct follow-on to Nichols' inspiration was actress Whoopi Goldberg, as Nichols' role as Uhura was her inspiration to get into acting. Nichols has said in multiple interviews[11] that Goldberg told her that as a child seeing Star Trek for the first time, she ran around the house screaming, "Hey Mom! Look! There's a black woman on the TV and she ain't no maid!" Goldberg was eventually to portray the recurring El-Aurian female character Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In the mid-1970s, encouraged by the burgeoning fan base for the show, Roddenberry sought to start a second television series (Star Trek: Phase II); this abortive attempt morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. The movie did sufficiently well at the box office, grossing more than $80 million in the US and $139 million worldwide,[12] to spawn several more movies during the 1980s. In 1987, Roddenberry created a second TV show, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), which was set aboard the fifth Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) more than seventy years after events in the earlier series and related movies. Unlike TOS—which often reflected a bold, interventionist American philosophy—TNG had a less aggressive and more socially liberal message. This show, unlike its progenitor, entered syndicated, rather than a nationwide network, from the beginning, and was sold to individual local TV stations. It became the number one syndicated TV show, lasting seven seasons, spawned two sequels, a prequel, four movies, and a vast marketing franchise.

Star Trek and its spin-offs have proved highly popular in television repeats, shown repeatedly on TV stations in the US and throughout the world. The Star Trek franchise is similarly prolific. Only Star Wars has had as significant an influence as a science fiction and popular culture phenomenon. According to Forbes magazine:[13]

the five live-action Star Trek series have garnered 31 Emmy Awards and 140 nominations. At least nine specials have been produced

the first eleven movies cumulatively grossed US$2.145 billion at the box office: the most successful movie was Star Trek (2009) grossing $385 million worldwide and after a combined nine nominations for four films, it was the first Star Trek film to win an Oscar. Having been nominated in four categories, it received the award for Best Make-up[14]

Star Trekconventions have been popular, but are waning[citation needed] and are now often meshed with conventions of other genres. Fans coined the terms "Trekkies" and "Trekkers" to describe themselves, and produce an abundance of material like fanzines with fiction, art and songs.

The show’s cultural influence goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. An entire subculture grew up around the show and, anecdotally, there are indications that Star Trek has influenced many people's lives. Many scientists and engineers claim that their professional and life choices were influenced by Star Trek.[15] An article in Columbia asserted that the starship captains of the Star Trek franchise are consistently among the best father figures on television, inspiring real fathers to embrace their responsibilities and act with "selfless authority".[16] The inventor of the first non-vehicular cell phone, Martin Cooper, states he was motivated to develop it from watching Star Trek.[17] Others have also been inspired by Star Trek when designing new technology, such as Dr. Peter Jansen, who invented a functional tricorder,[18] and several computer scientists at the University of Illinois, who have created a prototypical version of Star Trek's famous Holodeck.[19]

The Harvard Pluralism Project-recognized[20] philosophical society for "pluralistic rationalism," The Circle of Reason, notes similarities between its practiced social philosophy and the fictional Star Trek backstory's Vulcan philosophy of IDIC + logic.[21]

Klingon has actually spawned a life of its own, going on to garner its own grammar and vocabulary [22] and dedicated speakers from across the globe.[23]

A broad consensus amongst fans is that the Star Trek franchise became formulaic and mediocre in the 1990s due to over-exploitation of the franchise by Paramount and production of multiple spin-offs and movies, though fans do not necessarily agree as to when this began (some adult viewers of TOS felt it also could be formulaic and repetitive[8]). The release in May 2009 of Star Trek, a reboot involving characters from the original series and set in an alternate timeline, was developed with the partial hope to resurrect the franchise[citation needed].

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly, in reviewing the new film states that the Star Trek franchise had "devolved into a near-irrelevant cultural joke, likely to inspire giggles and unprintable curses from even its most ardent supporters."[24]Leonard Nimoy wondered in 2003 whether or not the franchise "had run its course".[25] Director J. J. Abrams argued "people [may not] even understand what Star Trek means anymore", and joked that a parody like Galaxy Quest which "mocks the paradigm" made the task of producing a credible Star Trek film that much more challenging.[26] Even on set, Abrams felt nervous "with all these tattooed faces and pointy ears, bizarre weaponry and Romulan linguists, with dialogue about 'Neutral Zones' and 'Starfleet'".[27] In covering the relaunch film, Jensen remarked the series' optimistic nature ran counter to an increasingly cynical culture, and that the film had been delayed from December 2008 to May 2009 to "rehab" the series' image.[24]

Upon release, the film was a major critical and box office success, sparking comments by fans and critics that the franchise has a bright renewed future[citation needed].

The opening fanfare of Star Trek: The Original Series, written by Alexander Courage, is one of the most culturally-recognized musical memes in existence. Also included as the opening fanfare to Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Star Trekfilm series, it has come to iconically symbolize Star Trek to even the casual viewer. Michael Giacchino has written a well-received distinctive new fanfare for the reboot Star Trek movie and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

A subgenre of Star Trek fandom has developed, specifically for the music of Star Trek, which includes music lovers who are not otherwise interested in Star Trek fandom. Dozens of commercially produced musical recordings of performances of Star Trek music exist—unrelated to the performance of screen Star Trek itself—evidencing the intrinsic cultural value and influence of the music of Star Trek.

The first television series with comparable storyline and set-up to Star Trek (aside from the genre rival Doctor Who) was the 1990s series Babylon 5. When pitching the series, the producer J. Michael Straczynski had hoped that television executives would think Trek had opened up the market for science-fiction on TV. However, he was told that Star Trek only created a market for more Star Trek and that the prospects for non-Trek related science fiction were seen as bleak. Eventually, Babylon 5 was greenlit. Three script writers who had worked for Trek's original series were to write for Babylon 5 (including D. C. Fontana who had written for three different Trek series), and Star Trek actor Walter Koenig was cast in a recurring role. All this, and the strong similarities of the series' premise to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine invited comparison to Star Trek. In addition, Babylon 5 was the first television series since Star Trek to get nominated for or win the Hugo award for best science fiction drama, which had only recognized feature films in the media category since Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry's widow and Star Trek actress, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, publicly stated that her decision to do a guest star appearance on Babylon 5 was to stop the feuding and bickering among hardline fans of the two series, which broke out occasionally at science fiction conventions. Ultimately, the series ran for its intended length of five seasons, making it the longest running American space oriented futuristic television series outside of the Star Trek franchise.

Some television series feature major or supporting characters whose love of Star Trek affects the storyline of the show.

"The Replacement", a Season 5 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, features two versions of the character Xander, a Star Trek fan, which is a simultaneous tribute to the Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within", in which there are two Captain Kirks.

In crossover casting, two other television series have cast actors from Star Trek in shows in which other characters are Star Trek fans who frequently refer to Trek moments or cite Trek storylines. The character Hiro Nakamura on NBC's Heroes likes to describe his ability to teleport as "like Star Trek", and has often performed Mr. Spock's Vulcan salute. His father is played by original Star Trek cast member George Takei (Sulu). Additionally, Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura in The Original Series also appears in the series.

Over a dozen actors from various Star Trek series have made guest appearances on one or the other of the Stargate series. In those series, Colonel Jack O'Neill makes unsuccessful pitches to name new space vessels after the Enterprise, and also gives the Vulcan salute in tribute to Trek. In an earlier episode of Stargate: SG-1, O'Neill travels back in time to the 1960s and during an interrogation by an Air Force officer he refers to himself as "James T. Kirk, captain of the federation starship Enterprise". Another Trek reference is made when a character questions whether or not another team member can be "beamed up". The response is "What am I, Scotty"? Later in the series, advanced alien technology allows team members to "beam" up and down in manner similar to that seen on Star Trek.

In the Cold War submarine film Crimson Tide, in a moment of crisis, the USS Alabama executive officer (played by Denzel Washington) gives a pep talk to his young radioman, urging him to repair the ship's radio by referring to Kirk's telling Scotty they need "more power". The Trek fandom of Noel, a recurring character on the sitcom Frasier, plays a role in several episodes, including "Star Mitzvah," in which he deceives Frasier into believing a speech is written in Hebrew when it is really in the Klingon language.[28]

The main characters from the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, especially Sheldon Cooper, make various references to and are big fans of Star Trek, with Sheldon even citing Starfleet regulations during an argument in one episode and the main characters dressing up as Mr. Data, Mr. Worf, Captain Picard and a Borg drone, respectively, in another. Also the series features Wil Wheaton in a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself plus guest appearances from Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton, and a voice-only cameo from Leonard Nimoy, who voices a Mr. Spock action figure talking to Sheldon in his dreams, making Star Trek one of the most often referenced franchises of the series. Pride of place, however, goes to the appearance of a Gorn in one episode.[29]

The Gorn captain's fight to the death with Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek episode, "Arena", was the subject of an episode of the television show MythBusters, in which the viability of Kirk's improvised bamboo cannon was put to the test.[30]

Star Trek has been the subject of a large number of parodies and tributes.

Prominent among film parodies is Galaxy Quest, as it parodied the original Star Trek series, elements of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the whole Trekkie phenomenon.

On television, the animated series Futurama makes frequent references to Star Trek and parodies some of its better known plot elements on a regular basis, including the character Zapp Brannigan who is based on a combination of Captain Kirk and William Shatner, and cast members of the original series have taken part in one episode.[31] Prominent examples in other television series include multiple episodes of The Simpsons and Family Guy. The children's TV show The Backyardigans has an episode titled "Garbage Trek" that is an homage to the original series. Joss Whedon has cited Star Trek as being the father of his cult show Firefly and its film Serenity.

NASA and other institutions have paid explicit tribute to the series in the use of names of ships and characters from the series. Subtle acknowledgments in media and real life include the use of Star Trek ships' registry numbers, especially the Enterprise's NCC-1701.[citation needed]

Two episodes of Eek The Cat parodied Star Trek (with the main character as a Captain Kirk-esque character; one episode featured William Shatner voicing the villain Captain Berserk).

In August 2010, the members of the Internal Revenue Service created a six-minute Star Trek themed training video for an agency conference. The video featured a mock set of the Enterprise in one of the agency's studios. The project cost 62 hours of staff time and cost $3,100. Revealed to the public in 2013, the spoof along with parodies of other media franchises was cited as an example of the misuse of taxpayer funds and "and insulting the beloved sci-fi TV show".[33][34][35]

Animaniacs has made an obvious parody of Star Trek, calling it Star Truck. Another Star Trek band, Warp 11, has released several studio albums.

Riverside, Iowa has proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, asserts in the book The Making of Star Trek by Stephen Whitfield, that the character of Kirk had been born in the state of Iowa. In March 1985, when the town was looking for a theme for its annual town festival, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council who had read Roddenberry's book, suggested to the council that Riverside should proclaim itself to be the future birthplace of Kirk. Miller's motion passed unanimously. The council later wrote to Roddenberry for his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and Roddenberry agreed. In the 2009 Star Trek reboot, Riverside is depicted as having a Starfleet shipyard on its outskirts, where the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 was built.

The city of Birmingham, Alabama also boasts a "Star Trek Lane" and "Star Trek Circle", in the Sunrise East subdivision of its Roebuck neighborhood.

An unincorporated area near the Las Vegas Strip contains a residential street named "Roddenberry Avenue". While the mailing address lists the avenue as being located in Las Vegas, Nevada, the physical address is an unincorporated township called "Enterprise". There is no indication that the township's name has any connection with the Star Trek series, and it is unknown whether or not the street name is a deliberate tribute to the Star Trek creator.[37][original research?]

The series greatly influenced public interest in the US Space Program and in education on the topic of space exploration. Star Trek: The Original Series ran from 1966 to 1969 benefited from the popularity of the televised Apollo 11 moon landing. The association between Star Trek and NASA grew stronger over time - the first NASA orbiter shuttle, Space Shuttle Enterprise, was named after the USS Enterprise of Star Trek fame.[40] The IXS Enterprise, NASA's conceptual design for a superluminalspacecraft, was similarly named after the USS Enterprise in 2014.

This connection remained solid throughout the 90s, when many of the cast members began narrating documentaries about the franchise's content and space exploration.[citation needed] Some of these documentaries were produced in cooperation with NASA itself, most notably the 1994 IMAX title Destiny in Space, narrated by Leonard Nimoy. In 2013, NASA produced a 30-second ad to accompany the theatrical release of Star Trek Into Darkness in an effort to bolster support for its space program. [41]

In addition, NASA has named a number of asteroids after people or elements connected to the Star Trek franchise: